Pettis

Formed January 2, 1833 (41^st county)

Pettis County (42,984), Sedalia (21,733)

A masonry Art Deco courthouse was built in 1924.  It is situated on a square at Ohio, 4^th, Lamine, and 5^th streets.  United States Highway 50 is three blocks to the south of the courthouse.  The building designer is W. E. Hulse.  There was a classic 1884 version earlier.  Sedalia has always been the county seat.  A miniature Statue of Liberty and war memorial pillars are on the courthouse grounds.  Pettis County was created on January 2, 1833 from parts of Cooper and Saline counties as the 41^st county.  It is named for Congressman Spencer Darwin Pettis.  The county seat is named for, Sarah Sed Smith, the daughter of the founder. 

Pettis County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners.  One Circuit Court Judge serves Pettis and Cooper counties and One County Court Judge serves Pettis County.  Pettis County is in central Missouri.  Kansas City, Missouri is west and Saint Louis, Missouri is east of the county.  The county center is in Sedalia 2 miles West-Northwest of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Saline, Cooper, Morgan, Benton, Henry, Johnson, and Lafayette counties. 

The area of the county is 685 square miles.  It is 33 out of 115 in the state.  It ranks 25 out of 115 in population in the state.  It has a density of 62.8 persons per square mile making it 30 out of 115 in the state.  Pettis County has 56.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 50 crosses the county east to west from Morgan County to Johnson County.  United States Highway 65 goes north to south from Saline County to Benton County.  The county is a rectangle with the southeast corner sliced away.  Sedalia is east and south of center in the county.  Sedalia is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 50.6% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced SE-DAEL-YA.  This county is in the Sedalia Micropolitan Statistical Area.